No, Rod Rosenstein and John Podesta are not the sons of high-profile Nazis

A recent Instagram post comparing the physical similarities of two men purported to be infamous Nazis and two high-profile Americans posits two wild questions. 

The first: Is former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein the son of Heinrich Himmler, a military commander who became the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany? 

The second: Is John Podesta, former chairman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and an adviser to President Joe Biden, the son of physician Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death" who performed notorious experiments on Auschwitz prisoners?

No and no. 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Featured Fact-check

Facebook posts

stated on March 21, 2024 in a Facebook post

“BREAKING: Top CNN host is out as ratings collapse.”

Rosenstein, who is Jewish, is the son of Robert Rosenstein, a small business owner, and Geraldine Stoloff Rosenstein, a bookkeeper. He was born to the couple in Philadelphia in January 1965 — 20 years after Himmler died. 

Podesta, who is Catholic, is the son of John Podesta Sr. and his wife Mary, the Chicago-born children of Italian and Greek immigrants, respectively. 

And for what it’s worth, the person in the Instagram post identified as Mengele is not Mengele.

We rate this post Pants on Fire!